Everton have unearthed another defensive gem in the form of Mason Holgate, with Ronald Koeman hailing the youngster’s “big quality” after starring in Saturday’s 1-0 win against Stoke City. The Magpies will face a battle to land the player with Leicester City, Sunderland and Crystal Palace all said to also be admirers of the midfielder.
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“The fan, who was seated in the Sir Philip Carter Park Stand for the game, became unwell just after 4.15pm”.
On today’s match, he added: “The Stoke game, that is more important than all the rumours”. “As a manager I look at how we pressed our opponents and the productivity with 18 shots, nine on target”. Pace in wide areas due to the presences of Mame Biram Diouf and Marko Arnautovic allowed the Potters to bring the ball out from wide areas.
And Hughes, whose side were penalised in a similar scenario against Manchester City last week, believes that there needs to be more consistency in the implementation of the new refereeing directives set out in the close-season. Romelu Lukaku had a shot cleared off the line by visiting captain Ryan Shawcross and Wales centre-back Williams then saw his header from a Kevin Mirallas cross turned away by Peter Crouch.
Given parried to thwart Barkley and Stoke’s designs on an equaliser were leaving them increasingly exposed on the break. Barkley’s run from some way out after another cheap give away by Stoke could’ve led to a goal, but the pass at the end of the run found Mirallas, who shot straight at Shay Given.
“That’s always hard but I think the workrate, the belief and the spirit of the players was fantastic”.
As Everton piled on the pressure by taking control of possession around the box, Stoke began defending deeper than they did in the first half.
– Stoke have conceded penalties in two of their three Premier League games this season.
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Stoke (0-1-2) had their biggest chance came on the hour mark as Marko Arnautovic crashed an effort onto the bar with Maarten Stekelenburg beaten.
